Dual-Generation Education

Defining a Research Agenda:

P. Lindsay Chase-Lansdale,

Teresa Eckrich Sommer & Terri J. Sabol

Cells to Society (C2S): The Center on Social Disparities and Heath Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University

Roundtable on Two-Generation Education at the Aspen Institute

October 14, 2011

Acknowledgements: Collaborators

• Steven Dow and Monica Barczak Community Action Project of Tulsa

• Jeanne Brooks-Gunn Columbia University

• Christopher King and Robert Glover University of Texas at Austin

• Hirokazu Yoshikawa Harvard Graduate School of Education

Acknowledgements: Funders

• Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

• Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

•Parents’ roles in children’s success

•Conceptual model & theory of change: Dual-generation strategies

•Research agenda

Presentation Overview

Parents’ Roles in Children’s Success

Children Under Age 6, By Family Income, 2009

Middle/ Upper Income

Near Poor

Poor

Basic Facts About Low-income Children, 2009: Children Under Age 18. National Center for Children in Poverty, Columbia University

46% of children under 6 are low income

Children Under Age 6 Living in Low-Income Families, 1997-2009

Basic Facts About Low-income Children, 2009: Children Under Age 18. National Center for Children in Poverty, Columbia University

38

39

40

41

42

43

44

45

46

47

1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009

% C

hild

ren

Und

er 6 44.9

40.9

42.9

46

A Conceptual Model of Inputs for Healthy Child Development

Family & Kin

Postsecondary Education

Home Environment

Non-family settings

Child Outcomes

Child Characteristics

Parental Characteristics

Community Context

Income

Employment

A Conceptual Model of Inputs for Healthy Child Development

Family & Kin • Fathers, husbands, and partners • Number of children • Kin availability and social networks • Income from family and networks

Parental Characteristics • Race/ethnicity • Age •Gender • Abilities • K-12 education • Mental health

Community Context • Neighborhood • Labor Market • Educational institutions • Public policies and social services

Income

Employment

Postsecondary Education

Home Environment • Partner/marital relationship • Parenting (warmth & connection; language & literacy; cultural traditions) •Shared learning and role modeling

Non-family settings • Preschool (0-5) • Evening/weekend care • K-12 • After school programs

Child Characteristics • Race/ethnicity • Age • Gender • Temperament • Genetic Predispositions

Child Outcomes • School success • Social competence

Disadvantage and Child Development

16 mos. 24 mos. 36 mos.

Cu

mu

lati

ve V

ocab

ula

ry (

Wor

ds)

College Educated Parents

Working Class Parents

Welfare Parents

Child’s Age

200

600

1200

Hart & Risley, 1995

When Mothers Increase Their Education, Children’s Learning Improves

Magnuson,K. (2007).

Dashed Lines reflect the time period during which mother's education increased

-0.1

0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

Age 6 Age 8 Age 10 Age 12

Rea

ding

Rec

ogni

tion

Sta

ndar

dize

d S

core

Increase in Maternal Ed Age 6-8 Increase in Maternal Ed Age 8-10Increase in Maternal Ed Age 10-12 No Increase in Maternal Ed

Socioeconomic Disparities in U.S. Postsecondary Degree Completion

Graph from Isaacs et al., 2008; Brookings tabulation of PSID data from 2005

Fam

ily In

com

e Q

uint

ile

Theory of Change: Dual-Generation

ECE= Early Childhood Education PSE= Postsecondary Education

Short-term outcomes

• Academic preparedness; career exposure • Social emotional readiness for kindergarten • Improved attendance • Improved transition to kindergarten

• Understanding of relationship between own education and that of child • Motivation to pursue education and careers • Defined education and career goals • Higher rates of PSE and career training enrollment and persistence

Theory of Change

Child

Parent

High-quality classroom

environments

ADD: • Career Coach • Partnerships with

community colleges, job

training

Family support services

Early Education

Child

Parent

Early Education

Long-term outcomes Mid-term outcomes

• Increased high school graduation rates • Increased training and PSE attainment

• Higher rates of adult basic education • Improved parenting practices • Workforce training credentialing • Educational attainment and certification

• Increased physical and emotional well-being • Greater life stability • Career advancement • Increased salaries

Theory of Change

High-quality classroom

environments

ADD: • Career Coach • Partnerships with community colleges, job training

Family support services

• Success in elementary school

• Higher motivation and engagement in school

Current State of Dual-Generation Research

Defining Dual-Generation: Two Silos

Workforce Development/PSE

Workforce training 2- & 4-year degrees Asset development

Early Childhood Education

Home visiting Early childhood education Pre-K to 3

Current State of Research: Two Silos

Early Childhood Education

• Compelling evidence that early education matters over the long term

• Programs for parents focused on child development

Workforce Development/PSE

• Increased emphasis on postsecondary education

• Little focus on challenges of student parents

Dual-Generation Interventions: Multiple Approaches

1. Add workforce training/PSE to ECE

2. Add ECE to workforce training/PSE

3. Residential programs for parent and child education, including community colleges

Example: Add Workforce Training to ECE Exploratory Study

• Gates Foundation Postsecondary Success Initiative

• 3 ECE centers

• In-depth interviews, 51 parents, 17 staff focus groups

Add Workforce/PSE to ECE: FINDINGS

• Parenthood and ECE: Powerful educational motivator

• Participation in ECE can make difference in parents’ view of what’s possible

• Synergies: Mothers’ education & children’s

learning

Parenthood & ECE: Powerful Educational Motivator

I want to be a good educational role model for my child.

Interviewer: What are your dreams and goals for your boys?

Respondent: Well, I want them to of course

finish high school and go to college. I want to be able to show them I went to college, and I was a person that I would have never seen myself in college. I know that if I can do it, they can do it.

Participation in ECE Can Make a Difference in Parents’ Views of

What’s Possible

…like right now, per se, I don’t worry. You know when you’re trying to focus on school, you need to try to weed out all the problems, everything that’s going to take away from your education. Like childcare, if you don’t have no one to watch your children, you can’t go to school…If you think your child is somewhere that is not safe, you can’t read and understand what you’re reading…

I don’t have to worry; I can focus on school or work

Synergies: Mothers’ Education & Children’s

Learning

Mothers enrolled in postsecondary education may positively influence their children’s learning.

We have a mom who’s a mechanic, and she just graduated from school. His <her son’s> vocabulary is through the roof; it’s so rich. She <the mother> talks about working on cars, different kinds of cars, colors of cars, what in a car… I mean he knows more about cars than we do….

Staff: Mothers’ Education and Children’s Learning

Further Explorations: ECE & Workforce Development/PSE

Early Childhood Education

PSE/Workforce Development

• Educational Progress and Parenting Among Mexican Immigrant Mothers of Young Children Crosnoe & Kalil, 2010 • Implementation of CareerAdvance®, A Dual-Generation Intervention Glover, Smith, King & Coffey, 2010 • A Case for Dual-Generation Strategies Waters Boots, 2010

Research Agenda

Key Research Questions: Understanding the Influence of

Dual-Generation Programs

• Does participation in dual-generation programs lead to improved family well- being?

• What works best for whom?

• How and why?

Research Approaches: Mixed Methods

• Quantitative • Longitudinal, eventually large-scale • Experimental or quasi-experimental design

(e.g., random control trial or waitlist)

Research Approaches: Mixed Methods

• Quantitative • Direct parent and child assessments

• Home and classroom observations

• Administrative data (e.g., wages, benefits)

Research Approaches: Mixed Methods

• Qualitative

• In-depth interviews: Parents & staff • Focus groups: Parents & staff • Parent profiles

Current Research Example: CareerAdvance®

Early Childhood Program

Coaches

Peer Support

Financial Incentives & Supports

Workforce Development/

Employers

Basic Education

& ESL

Local Colleges

Elementary Schools

CareerAdvance®

CareerAdvance® Model

• Community Action Project (CAP), Tulsa, OK, Steven Dow and Monica Barczak

• Christopher King & Bob Glover, LBJ School, Ray Marshall Center, UT-Austin

• Hiro Yoshikawa, Harvard Graduate School of Education

CareerAdvance®: CAP Family Life Study

(funded by ACF)

• HPOG CAP program expansion • Small-scale Outcomes Study • Implementation Study

• HPOG research study • 5 year, mixed method, quasi-experimental study:

Child and parent outcomes

Workforce/PSE Outcomes • Increased credentialing and degree attainment • Family supporting wages and economic stability

• Moving from a job to a career

Child Outcomes • Better attendance at ECE programs

• Improved development • Academic achievement • Social competence

• Long-term: PSE attainment, life success, and financial security

• Self-confidence and self-efficacy (e.g., optimism, self-esteem)

• Mental health and stress

• Academic expectations for self and child

• Parenting, family routines, and discipline

• Engagement in children’s schooling

How and Why: Parents

How and Why: Children

• Learning and engagement

• Executive functioning and attention

• Motivation

• Experiencing parents’ own efforts, goals, homework, and achievements

Respondent: I think it’s just for me to see that they are also excited for me cause they know that whenever I was studying certain words, my daughter- not my oldest one, my middle one- she would get excited whenever I would say a word, and then she would go and repeat it. Now she’s to the point that she even knows some of those medical words and what they mean, you know? Or she will quiz me herself and I think it was just trying for me to spend time with her, and that was the way she was getting attention by being involved with what mommy is doing.

Respondent: …And you know I think... cause now she is like “Oh what is peri- mommy, don’t forget peri-!” And she even gave me ideas of how to remember. She goes to Perry Elementary School. I was like “I can’t remember peri-. I don’t know what peri-...” and she was like “Mommy just think, my school, just think peri- around Perry!” And that’s what peri- means: around. I was like “Oh thanks!” So, now I am never going to forget what peri- means ... So to me that brought me a lot of joy, I was so happy and excited that she kinda put a thought into how can I help my mom remember. Interviewer: How old is she? Respondent: She’s seven

Directions for the Future

• Are dual-generation interventions effective? • Are certain models more effective than others and for whom? • Why or why not do we see program effects?

• Cost effectiveness? • What evidence is needed for program providers and policymakers?